Strangers to Ourselves

Explores the limits of introspection as a path to self-knowledge. Wilson argues that many of the forces shaping our behavior lie outside our awareness, making it difficult to fully understand ourselves through introspection alone. Rather than relying only on looking inward, he suggests we come to know ourselves by paying attention to our actions and interpreting patterns in our behavior and in how others respond to us.

Full title: Strangers to Ourselves: Discovering the Adaptive Unconscious.

Timothy D. Wilson is a social psychologist at the University of Virginia.